(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Yazid Zerhouni, RSF protested the seizure of the most recent issue of the weekly “El Mouaad el Djazairi”. “This censorship is arbitrary and is an illegal act insofar as it has not been preceded by any notification by the authorities and the services which have […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Yazid Zerhouni, RSF protested the seizure of the most recent issue of the weekly “El Mouaad el Djazairi”. “This censorship is arbitrary and is an illegal act insofar as it has not been preceded by any notification by the authorities and the services which have carried out the seizure have not been identified,” declared RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard, who asked the minister to launch an investigation. The seizure of the newspaper is the first such incident since the amendment of the penal code in June 2001 (see IFEX alerts of 11 July, 19 June, 31 May, 25 and 24 April, 15 and 8 March and 22 January 2001).
According to information collected by RSF, the 26 November issue of the Arabic-language weekly “El Mouaad el Djazairi” was removed from news stands after its distribution. The newspaper’s director, Abdelkader Talbi, was summoned by the security services on 27 and 28 November. The seizure was not preceded by a notification and the services that carried out the action have not been identified. According to journalists from “El Mouaad el Djazairi”, the measure is connected to the newspaper’s most recent editorial, which accused the state of practicing a form of terrorism more dangerous than that practiced by the terrorists themselves; “a terrorism which finds pleasure in everything it undertakes, even in collective carnage.” The editorial also criticised the government for its handling of the 10 November floods that was responsible for many deaths. According to the 27 November issue of the daily “Le Jeune Indépendant”, “The seizure of the weekly may also be linked to its substantial file on the assassination of Abdelkader Hachani, leader of the now defunct FIS [Islamic Salvation Front]”.
